Sunday, November 27, 2016

It wasn’t my idea to bring the nanny on vacation. My unfaithful wife’s the one who suggested inviting Jessica. And when our young sitter threw her arms around me to say thank you, her enthusiasm sent me right down the road to damnation. Every time that girl called me “Mr. Reed” or asked about my day, I knew I couldn’t resist temptation. Jessica was sweet and caring and fertile to boot. As soon as we took that trip together, I would surely find a way to get her alone… if she didn’t corner me first!

This story also appears in the anthology The Secret Life of Sitters!

Here's how it all begins...

It was my wife’s idea to bring the girl along. How’s that for irony?

You always expect the woman you marry to be good with kids if she wants them—and my wife sure as hell did. We hadn’t been married six month when she begged me to knock her up. I wasn’t so sure, at first. I’d seen a few of my buddies step into the whole fatherhood role, and I’ll tell you right now: it changed them.

Changed me too. I’m glad to say, despite the crying and being tired all the time and endless piles of laundry, I wouldn’t trade fatherhood for the world.

I’m not sure Laura would say the same about motherhood. I suspect if she had to choose between her job and her kids, she’d live at the office.

Not me. My desk is littered with pictures of the critters. No matter how bad things are at work, I always look forward to coming home to that tight squeeze hello, and trying to kick off my shoes with the little ones wrapped around my legs.

And then Jessica steps out of the kitchen with a tea towel over her shoulder and a genuine smile on her face, and she asks, “How was your day?”